Method of mining



Jan. 26, 1932. M. J. ELslNG METHOD OF MINING Filed March' '3, 1931 WMO I q By @"lwg VAttorney Jan. 26, 1932.

M. ELSING METHOD 0F MINING 4 sheets-sheet 2 Filed March s, 1931 NWN lnveniar M. J v51? llorncy Jan. 2 6, 1932.

LEVEL M. J. ELSING METHOD OF MINING Filed March 3. 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Inventar 47. 1f df/$973;

@waa/5% A tlorne y Jan. 26, 1932. M. J. ELS-ING METHOD 0F MINING 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 3. 1931 /lf JEW'n, www@ A Home y Patented Jan. 26, 1932 PATENT-"abastos moimis J. ntsinon moesen, ARIZONA muon or MINING Y Application led ,MarchI 3, 1931. v Serial No. 519,820. t

' x This invention relates to a method of min` ing. .Thegeneral ,object `ofthe invention is to providel a method whichis both cheap and safe in. its operation. f

.T he newmethod includes some` of the features'of two other methods of mining, but insuch a lwayas to become anentirely new method. 'w f. @im .E -ii I" The @improvedI .n iethodembraees.,one of theffeatures ofdthefshrinkage .method and of .thesublevel method, ybut ,the safety principle vby which safety, Vis .secured Yin the im proved method 1s present ,neither the shrinkage method nor the :sub-.level method.

j .'Ihe'improved method maybe .carried'out in| a number` of 'different ways as 'shown' in the accompanying drawingslwhich, illustrate four derent ways-in which the improved method can be carried out. j

vIn thesedrawings l Figure 1 is a vertiealsectionalview showin the sub-level method.`

ig. 2 isa similar view showing the second .method ,of carrying out the invention in which the raises are parallel with the angle of reposelvof the broken ore. l

Fig. 3 is a view showing a third way of carrying out the invention, in which the raises are normal to angle of repose of broken ore.

l.Figli is a viewfshowing theA fourth way ofearrying out theinven'tion. v f Reference to theuaccomp'anying illustrations ,will show the methody of'l operation. Assume that the yore body to be mined is a moreor less vertical vein, 20, feet wide, and

that the walls are. yiirm but that if large openings are made -in the vein, theore is apt tol cave in rather large slabs; The only method 4by which such -a vein could be mined is by one o f the higher cost methods requiring timber support. This results in a high cost per ton.

My method can be applied to mining such an ore body as follows A raise l() would be driven at some-convenient distance frointhe point of the beginning of stoping, and from this raise at vertical intervals of, say 20 feet, intermediate or` sublevel drifts l, 2, 3, 4 will be driven in the vein to a point above the proposed stope. A small pening'is made over a chute 5 on the main level 6 in the customary. way `of making Iopenings yunderground. Thel roof and walls of the small opening are'then drilled and thendrillingis 55 done in the floor of the first sublevel driftl immediatelyiov'er this opening.

Theholes in the opening are then blasted andblasting oftheholes'm, the bottom of the sublevel driftuvfollows. Holes have been so 60 placed` that th'. ,Combinedblasting will vbreak the ore tothe floor of 'the sublevel 'driftfinenfi'nd- .1.11. .this 'my the, ground between the, top of the's'ma'll opening at the chute and the bottom of the sublevel drift will be a mass of 65 broken" o re. Holes such as 7 are then drilled above the sublevel drift contiguous tothe broken ore, and holes such as 8 will be drilled downward from sublevel number'2 to more or less meet those drilled up from sublevel ,m number 1.

`A certain amount of ore will then be drawn from the chute mentioned on the main haulage level, after which the holes mentioned on sublevel numbers 1 and 2 will be blasted. 75 Only sufficient ore will be drawn from the chute to accommodate the ore to be broken by the next blasting. By similar'successive steps the stope will arrive at the stage shown in Fig. l. 3() Fig. 1 shows the stope filled with broken ore. The original drift has been enlarged to a size sufficiently. large to allow the drilling of holes in all directions; sideways, as well as upwards and downwards. After drilling er, has been. 'done onall snblevels a calculation is made regarding the 'amount of ore which will be broken by blasting the holes on each sublevel. Only that amount of broken ore is drawn from chute number 5 to make room n0 for the additional ore to be blasted. The face of the broken ore will then assume approximately the position of the line -B.

Blasting by `electric firing may bedone, and the holes below sublevel number'l will o5 be blasted first and followed by the holes below and above sublevel number 2, and so on to the highest sublevel. In this way the broken ore will lill the opening made by drawing of the ore. 10o

The line A-B, the line of the unbroken ore, will be approximately parallel and coincident to the angle of repose of the broken ore so that the opening after ore is drawn will be more or less of a uniform size, and only suiciently large to accommodate the new ore to be broken; Repeate'dincline slices will. thus be taken off the ore body. As' the stopeadvances ore may be drawn from chute-member 5 and later from chute number dp-but:

'only such an amount of ore will be removed i' as will not draw the ore from along thierwork-V ing face A-B. As mining and drawing continue, there will alwaysfbea pyramidof' broken ore as la support for the working face of. unbrolrenore. y. l e v In mining citywide/veins" or ore deposits transverse cross, cuts 'fromth'e sublevel drifts, or in some cases, benches, will be driven parallelto the tace of ore to be broken; and lfrom' these the drilling will be done.

,The most important -advantagev of `my: method is that it combines 'safety with cheapness jot operation. It never requires that men` gointo large i unsupportedopeningsf Drillin-gis always donefinlsmall" openings in unbrokeny ground which `is supported' by broken ore, (Large,y cavespf ground ,arefimpossible,"y I v. Itis possible to use mymethod in. ground which. cannot. be worked by the old lshrinkage method' of stoping, orl by the'sublfevel stoping .met-hed. This applies 1 to hard ground which is treacherous in the sensethat large blocks, slabs'or boulders may cave, aS, well. as 'to soft. groundy which will not ,stand open? over the usual width required in vshrinkage stoping. v y

At all times the working tace is close to the miner so that careful inspection is possible.

My method is applicable to mining .narrow and wide veins, or small or large deposists. It can be used in mining large pil,-

.' lars leftbetween-.stopes and as an auxiliary method in caving. lIt can be applied in bringing down a block of ground in the caving method which has been, insuiiiciently undercut and does not cave. i It has the adrantage ofV the low costwith safety.'f itt'le or no timber is required In case othardore or soit ore eontaininghard boulders, instead of chutes, bulldozing chambers and grizzlies will be provided.

Mr-method can be applied with a minimum num er. ofpilla-rs.

The principle ot my method is different from the sublevel methodin that the ore being drilled is supported. This is equally true when compared with shrinkage stoping. It is also different from shrinkagein that in ,shrinkage mining horizontal layers are taken out and such advance isi-vertically upwards. In my method layers are inclined and progress is horizontally.

v.drill holes, as shownin Fig. 4.

My "method'is*not confined to the drilling .-by1 oldiillafry machine drills. In some cases drilling may be done with the so-called deep drilling.' machinerwith sectional drill steel. In other. cases, drilling may be done with diar'riondfdrills;- 'ff-ff Under certain ground conditions my 4method will permitthe maintaining of' asna-ll opening between the broken oreand parts of theworli'n'g face. 'Ihi'swill beiadvantageous especially in worlring'thewider deposits 'of harder ore. This 'opening need not" 'be more than a few feet wide. ,In such a case-,"'alll of the 'working y'face YSfeer-p'rmzi'deaf with Support, 'butfif immediate" support isiiecessary, of a y fewl .holes ill'f'the ,opens ing. With the sialll openingno serious :eav-

ing .Car occur..

'Another feature' of niethod which-lat times might varyis thatthe workingiface of solidfore". will'. not always :parallel tfo the angle'ofreposeof'thebroken oref i Under certain conditions not be put in parallell to the Vface of the ore being broken. These holes may be vertically upward and downward, in4 which case Vafter blasting a -section of the working face would have an inverted step-like' appearance.

The working of 'my' method does not require the blasting of all drill holes on the different sublevels atone time. vIn cases where itis desirable and possible 'to maintain a small opening betweenthe working face of' solid ore and the 4face of the broken ore drilling may be done on the lower subleVel, and after blasting, drilling 'may'bedone on .the next higher leyel. In this wayA support will .always be provided tor'thepre below .the drill- 'er as drilling is done on successively higher levels.v l I y I`he 'ethod may'alsobecarried outby removing the broken ore from the stope and placing waste material therein which waste materia-l must -ot course, be arranged with an inclined face to parallel the face of the stope, as before set forth. This waste material may be introduced into the stope by'dropping it down through a. raise, such as ,10 and which has its lower end in communication with the stope.

As the stope increases in size and the pile of waste material advances other raises may beformed for the introductionl of the material so as to keep the inclined face of the pile adjacent to the face of the stope. The broken h'ns will ore is removed from the chutes 5 as before. This material may entirely ll the stope while the drilling is being done and then sufficient of the material is removed to form a space for receiving the ore to be blasted.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is 1. The herein described method of mining comprising the breaking of ore in inclined layers parallel to the angle of repose of the broken ore, by drilling and blasting from within the ore body itself and not from below it, and the removing of the broken ore from chutes on the level below in such a way that the ore remaining in the stope will be parallel to the face of the next layer to be mined.

2. The herein described method of mining comprising the breaking of ore in inclined layers parallel to the angle of repose of the broken ore, by drilling and blasting from Within the ore body and not from below it, and the removing of only suliicient broken ore to make room to accommodate the ore to be broken in blasting the next layer, after which blasting, the broken ore lls the opening and becomes the support for the next layer while it is being drilled.

3. The herein described method of mining comprising thebreaking of ore in inclined layers parallel to the angle of repose of the broken ore, by drilling and blasting from Within the ore body itself and not from below it, and the removing of broken ore to make more room than is sufficient to accommodate the ore to be broken in blasting the next layer, after which blasting the broken ore assumes a face substantially parallel to the face of the broken ore and a few feet from it.

4. The herein described method of mining comprising the breaking of ore in inclined layers parallel to the angle of repose of the broken ore, by drilling and blasting from within the ore body itself and not below it, and removing all of the broken ore and lling the open stope with waste so that there will be an inclined opening parallel to the face of the ore to be broken into which opening ore will be blasted and then drawn from the stope.

5. The herein described method of mining comprising the breaking of ore in inclined layers parallel to the angle of repose of the broken ore by drilling and blasting from within the ore body itself and not from below it, and removing all of the broken ore and filling the open stope with Waste which will act as a support for the ore while being drilled after which sufficient waste will be drawn to accommodate the ore to be blasted.

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature.

MORRIS J. ELSING. 

